LONDON (Alliance News) - Malaysian and Vietnamese property development company Aseana Properties Ltd said it swung to a profit in its first half after having sold its Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral Hotel in June.
Aseana posted a pretax profit of USD29.2 million for the six months ended June 30, compared to the USD5.1 million loss reported a year earlier, despite revenue falling to USD3.9 million from USD16.9 million.
The company said it swung to a profit thanks to the USD36.3 million gain it made on the disposal of its Aloft hotel towards the end of its financial year, which offset operating losses and financing costs.
Aseana pointed to a slowdown in the Malaysian property sector, resulting from a "number of external and domestic shocks" and said, as such, the sales performance at its two properties was adversely affected.
"Despite its solid macroeconomic fundamentals, Malaysia has been adversely affected by the lingering decline in commodity prices, China's growth slowdown and political uncertainties in the country. These factors combined have impaired the confidence of investors," the company said.
The company said it will continue its efforts to dispose of the remaining units at condominium SENIU and increase sales at apartment complex The RuMa. SENI has recorded 97% sales based on sales and purchase agreements signed, while The RuMa has achieved 56% sales to date.
Meanwhile, in Vietnam, the performance of the City International Hospital has seen "consistent improvement" over the past six months, registering 3,938 in-patient days as of August 15, compared to the 2,561 recorded a year earlier.
"The group's results have turned around positively following the disposal of the Aloft and the proceeds were used to repay borrowings. However, general business conditions continued to be affected by the weak economy and poor property market sentiment especially in Malaysia," said Chairman Mohammed Azlan Hashim.
"Nevertheless, the board and the manager are continuing their efforts to achieve optimum performance and value for the group's assets and repositioning the group's portfolio to capture any recovery and growth of both the economy and property markets in Malaysia and Vietnam," the chairman said.
Shares in Aseana were untraded on Friday, having last traded at USD0.430.
By Hannah Boland; hannahboland@alliancenews.com; @Hannaheboland
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Aseana Prop. (ASPL)